Return to Troy
by mythgirl100ad
Summary: The great city of Troy, destroyed by the Greeks. Though now gone, they had their half-bloods too, didn't they? Aeneas couldn't have been the only one. Could he? Oc centered.
1. The Twin Tutor Bully sons of Ares

~_My first Story, please don't be harsh well not extremely anyways. This story is about a Trojan Camp Half-blood. The main character is a demigod by the name of Lake Daniels. At the moment I have no plans for Lake and his friends to encounter the demigods you're familiar with but it's yet to be known if this will change or not.~ _

_Thanks, mythgirl100ad_

The great city of Troy, fell by the Greeks, only Aeneas was able to flee. He fled to Italy, where he formed the great empire of Rome. But was that really all that became of Troy?

The trap quickly enclosed around its victim, giving it a slow, painful death. A young man took a step back, writing down in the journal what he had just observed. "Venus Flytraps, they're so awesome," he muttered, scribbling down something about the reaction time.

A man's voice came from the other side of the room, "But they don't really attract any young ladies will they Lake?" He came over to Lake, setting down a pretty flowering plant.

Lake sighed, "I don't really care what girls think dad, Venus Flytraps are cool, I wish they were so much bigger."

Lake's dad frowned, "Be careful what you wish for Lake, it might come true."

Lake laughed, "Yeah, sure dad. Giant Flytraps, like that's going to happen." Lake picked up his journal, walking out of the green house and towards their house slash flower shop slash plant mutation lab.

It was an old brick building in the center of Austin, Texas. It was always hot, except in winter, when it snowed till it covered your knees. Lake was happy under the spring sun, walking through the back door of the house. He walked up the back stairs and into his room, falling asleep on the bed. Only to go to school tomorrow.

Lake was sitting in the chair, waiting for the teacher to call the rest of the names. He was scribbling different types of leaves on a piece of scrap paper. His eyes kept darting to where two "tutors" were sitting.

They were a pair of tall, red-headed twin boys who were so-called tutors that the school had hired. They didn't really do any tutoring. They mostly beat up kids in the hallway and stared for long periods of time at different kids every day. Lake was guessing it was his turn to be stared at, since their dark brown eyes were trained on him, boring in the back of his neck.

For the rest of day, Lake was the center of the boy's attention. And at lunch he took a break for it, racing out to the cafeteria and sticking in the corner as always. He tried to eat his lunch in peace, keeping his head down. Of course, luck always runs out on those who need it the most.

"Hey Daniels! You got a moment!" It was more a demand then a question. The two boys didn't wait for an answer, sitting opposite from him.

Lake looked up at them, "What do you want?"

One of them pulled out a picture and handed it to him, "What's that Daniels?"

Lake looked at it. He looked back at him, "That's the Trojan Horse stupid."

They smiled, which was pretty creepy. They showed him another picture, asking another question.

"Troy?"

"Zeus."

"Poseidon."

"Athena."

"Paris and Helen."

"This is getting…fine that's Achilles."

After a few more questions the brothers smiled at one another. "Well Lake, one more question." The slightly taller of the two, reached under the table and slowly pulled something out. It was a long silver dagger with a black handle, "Can you see this?" they said rather calmly.

Lake started freaking out, "Of course I can! Do you two realize you brought a knife to school! You're going to be expelled!"

The two brothers smiled, "I do believe it's time for a proper introduction," the shorter one said, "My name is Kyle, son of Ares, and this is my brother, Kevin, also son of Ares."

Lake started laughing, "Yeah, that's really funny, and my daddy is Zeus!"

Kyle and Kevin didn't look very amused, "Isn't funny kid, I'll tell you right now your dad's not Zeus, considering the fact your real dad works in a flower shop. Your mom is a goddess."

"Yeah and so is my underwear!"

Kevin put the knife away, slamming his hands on the table, "Listen up now, genius. Our oracle learned there was a demi-god kid in this town. They sent us out here to find you."

"Oh yes, and the sky's neon green now."

"Your mom is a goddess, we don't know who yet but she is one. Got that?" Kyle said, "You have to come back with us to camp."

Lake shook his head, "No."

The two brothers exchanged a final glance, Kevin handing him the dagger, "Keep this and think about it. If you decide for the better meet us at the bus stop near you house Saturday morning. Until then, be careful. Your smell is stronger now."


	2. Mom's Giant Plant Test

There's a reason why weed killer is a really effective way to kill plants instead of weed whackers. Lake was looking at the dagger closely in his room. It was made of pure silver he had figured out that much. His dad couldn't see it even when it was waved multiple times in front of his face. Whenever he bent or nicked it always morphed back to its original form. It was creepy.

The twins' offer stuck in his head and haunted him. He hadn't seen them since they had talked to him at lunch but he still had that haunting feeling that they were still watching.

Saturday came sooner than Lake thought it would, and waking up that morning wasn't much better. He dragged himself to the bathroom, expecting to see a face other than his in the mirror, frowning to see his own.

Same shaggy brown hair, same dark green eyes, and the same strange brown freckles that made it look like someone had purposely splattered his face with brown paint. His plaid shirt hung over his gray t-shirt. He rolled up the sleeves, pushing his hair out of his eyes. He walked out the bathroom and down the stairs, sticking the dagger in a loop in his jeans.

His dad was already out of the house, maybe in the shop on the first floor or the lab in the basement. It didn't really matter. Lake sat on the coach, flipping through the channels and like usual there was nothing to watch. He sat up, thoroughly bored now. The sun was shining and the grass was growing.

He went outside. The sidewalk seemed inviting. Lake walked down it, who kept glancing over his shoulder. After a few minutes he was almost certain he was being followed. He turned around, subconsciously pulling the dagger, "Come out, I know you're there."

Nothing happened.

He squinted his eyes. Even though he couldn't see anyone but he still had that feeling, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Why had he pulled the dagger on no one? After a moment he shrugged it off but still had the feeling.

He continued his walk but every step he took it felt like the presence was getting closer. The dagger started to vibrate too, as if it was trying to warn him. Okay, now he was positive he was going nuts, a dagger trying to warn him of something. That just didn't happen, at least not out of the movies or fairy tales. He put the dagger back in his belt loop.

His walk made him slowly more paranoid, his stalker getting closer and closer. He waited for something, the breaking of a stick, the feeling of a breath down his neck, the cold hand on his shoulder. Nothing, just the feeling of being followed.

He was reaching the outskirts of town, the feelings suddenly got closer. Lake swung around just as something wrapped around his ankle. He was hanging upside down, facing something from his nightmares.

A giant Venus flytrap, about the size of a cement truck, was sitting on the sidewalk, or in the road, whichever way you wanted to put it. One of its roots had grabbed his ankle and was "staring" him like, "Cool, not a fly but it'll do." He could see the nectar dripping out of its mouth. He was its lunch.

Lake struggled in its grip, trying to reach up and grab the roots but unlucky for him he was really out of shape. "Help!" he screamed, "Somebody help me!"

To his horror and dismay he heard someone laughing at him. He turned his head slightly to see the tutor-twins standing near the bus stop, smirks on their faces, "Sorry Daniels! You have to do this one on your own."

That kind of lowered the light on him. He then remembered the dagger. He drew it out and stabbed the root, being careful not to maim his own leg. The plant roared in pain, dropping him flat on his back on the ground. Lake let out a groan of pain, slowly pulling himself up, trying to ignore the fact he was pretty sure she sprained his spine.

One of the plant's stems whipped out at him, knocking him off his feet again. Lake got up, glaring at the monster. He struggled to his feet, glaring at the plant. The dagger, which had bent on impact, had snapped back into place. He was kind of glad too, considering it was the only thing keeping him alive.

The plant whipped again, only to have the silver dagger slashed down the side. The stem disappeared, crumbling into dust on the street. Mr. Flytrap looked like it was out for revenge now. It lashed again only to have the act repeated.

Lake cried out in pain when it slashed his cheek, leaving a cut along the length of his face. He pulled back, holding the dagger up higher.

Then he remembered something his dad had said, _the roots, if you kill the roots then the rest of the plant goes with it, remember that._

Lake darted forward; knowing he was either going to be killed or he might actually have a chance to win this fight. He made his way through the leaves, avoiding the leaves that scratched at him, ripping holes in his shirt and such. He soon saw them. The white roots that the plant was using to walk with but just as he got close the plant sat on him.

It was thoroughly humiliating, being beat by a plant, but Lake wasn't done yet. He managed to flip onto his back, slicing the bottom of the plant. It roared a pain, getting up. He took this chance to move forwards, jamming the blade into the plant's main root. Nothing happened.

For a moment Lake thought he was done for, his plant had failed, but that was when he got a shower of dust and glittery gold raining on him. He looked up to see that all that was left of the plant was the dust stuff.

Lake looked down at himself. Parts of his clothing, that wasn't shredded, was dyed green and caked with dirt. The only thing that looked relatively clean was the dagger.

A silent clapping came from behind him. Lake swung around to see the twins clapping, their faces relatively calm.

"Congrats, you passed you mom's test, though I have to say that the tests that Ares gave us were much harder," Kyle said.

Lake dragged his feet over to him, "What in the world are you talking about? What test! The gods aren't real."

"The test," Kevin started, "Is given to Trojan demi-gods by their parents to see if they're worthy or not to head to Camp Illion. You just passed. Giant plants, I must say, that's a new one."

Lake stared at them, "Look I'm not a demi-god or whatever you're talking about, I'm human."

The brothers exchanged glances, "On to Camp Illion. We'll explain on the way then. It'll take some time though, we've got three hours to go."


	3. Camp Illion

Life seemed to hate Lake, as simple as that. Right now he was sitting on some smelly bus with a pair of war demigod twins and a silver dagger that was currently the only luggage he had. The bus smelled like old peanut butter and he felt like he was going to puke.

And the twins had explained some things that he didn't really want to know.

One, his mom was a powerful Goddess and she had sent him some test that was supposed to see whether or not he was worthy or not to go this place called Camp Illion.

Two, the gods were real. And his mom was Trojan goddess, not Greek, not Roman, Trojan. _They stand more for the home front, they stand for home and protect it there, they're real close to their kids but they still keep the distance. _That's what Kevin had told him.

Three, Camp Illion was a super secret camp in the middle of nowhere and you were never to tell anyone where it was unless you wanted the wrath of Zeus.

Four, once they got there he was going to assigned to one of the other kids as his mentor, whatever that meant.

The bus drove for many miles in silence. The twins were whispering to one another, sometimes casting a glance at him, not making him feel any better. He turned and stared out the window, walking the Texas terrain speed behind the closer they got to the ocean.

He looked at the twins, "Where is this place again?"

Kyle gave him an unreadable look, "Texas coast, near the Mexico border."

"Okay," Lake said dryly. The rest of the trip passed like grass growing, really slow but eventually they pulled to a stop and Kevin dragged him off the bus. The two pushed him down a path that leads to the seashore. The closer they got Lake felt something crawl up his spine. It was similar to that of the one the giant flytrap had given him but this one was friendlier.

The path started leading up to a rise. Once they got to the top, Lake's jaw literally dropped.

There was a large bay, with a half circle on the coast, surrounded by the highest walls Lake had ever seen. A castle of golden-brown stones was near the back, with four tall towers and more windows then he could count. There was a huge dock with six of those Greek ships, what were they called? There were several long buildings near the walls of the castle, four in all, two on each side. A collection of small and big houses were in the middle, with a section on a hill, composed of a lot of Greek temples, all in different colors. And in the sunset it was simply amazing.

"Is that Camp Illion…" he finally managed to spurt out.

The twins nodded, Kevin pointing down a slope to a group of people who were making their way up. The four people walked up to them, one of them breaking ranks to run up and hug Kyle. One of the three remaining soldiers came up, removing his helmet.

His facial features were scarred but still immensely handsome. Jet black hair and steel gray eyes, he looked like one of those people from one of the space shows, "Name's Alan, son of Athena. Welcome to Camp Illion." He stuck out his hand in greetings.

Lake took it, shaking it, "My name's Lake Daniels…don't know who my mom is though."

Alan smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder, "It's fine, your mom will send a sign in no time, the longest period for being unclaimed is a week. Trojans' don't have as many kiddos as Greek or Roman."

Lake fiddled with the dagger, which was now in a sheath that twins had given to him to put it in, "Are you my mentor person?" he asked.

The son of Athena shook his head, "No, Danny over there is." With a snap of his fingers one of the soldiers trudged forward.

"Danny" was quite small for a guy, but from what he could see through the helmet he was about his age, with dark blue eyes and wavy black hair. Danny was a few inches shorter than him and a lot, how do you put it, petite for a guy.

He smiled at Danny, "So you'll be my…."

Danny cut him off, "No talking, I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

Lake shuddered, "Harsh much."

Alan gave a nervous smile, "Danny here is a son of Poseidon. Been here two years."

The twins went over and hugged Lake, which greatly surprised him, "We're in barrack two, if you ever need us for anything." Lake noticed that Kyle had a red mark on his cheek and that the person who had hugged him was pushing brown hair back under her helmet.

Alan dismissed the other soldiers, except for Danny. He smiled at him, "Come on, let's show you your bunk, introduce you to a few of your future battalion mates. Oh and Welcome to Camp Illion, otherwise known as new Troy."

With that they descended into the camp.

~_Well, that's chapter 3. I hope you enjoyed it. Danny is a secondary character and is going to be one of Lake's two main friend here at Camp, the next one may or may not be introduced next chapter but you never know. Oh, and something to ponder, Danny has a secret. ~_


	4. Danny is Suppose To be Dead?

_~Sorry about the long wait for an update, I've been busy. This chapter will be extra long for all the readers. If I have any readers. Anyways, here we go. Into the fourth battalion. Oh! I don't own anything, except the characters and the Camp Illion idea. ~_

_~mythgirl100ad_

Lake jumped down the dirt steps, following Danny. The others had gone to what Alan said, was the grand meeting room. Lake walked up behind him, tapping his shoulder. "Hey, where are we going?"

Danny swung around, grabbing his wrist and flipping him onto to his back on the ground. Lake landed with a thud, groaning in pain. "What was that for?" he said, getting to his feet.

"Don't you ever touch me, or I'll do a lot worse next time," the son of Poseidon said, gritting his teeth together.

"I was just wondering."

Danny sighed, twisting his spear in his hands, "We're heading towards the Battalion Number 4, that's where you've been assigned. Once we're in there get lost, then meet me in the arena tomorrow. I want your training over as soon as possible. Got that?"

Lake flinched, squinting his green eyes at Danny, "Fine, whatever you want Salt-breath."

"What did you just call me?"

"Salt-breath, that's what you smell like. A bucket of old smelly salt that's been left out to cut in the sun for umpteenth million years, I'm surprised no one has told you that before! You totally smell like it." Lake was pinned to the ground by Danny, receiving several blows to the face. He returned these with force. These continued for several long moments until a girl's voice screamed.

Lake felt Danny's weight lifted off of him. He opened his uninjured eye to see the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had shoulder-length amber-brown hair with honey colored eyes. She had the most perfect make-up he'd ever seen, even on super-models. She was wearing a green t-shirt and had some sort of silver tiara in her hair. She had her arms crossed and a really annoyed look on her face.

"Your name is Lake, right?"

Lake stood up, trying to straighten out his shirt and dusting himself off, "Yeah! My name's Lake Daniels. What's your name! You're really pretty!" he slammed his hands over his mouth realizing what he had said.

The girl smiled, "My name's Mabel but everyone here calls me Maybe." Maybe's smile seemed to make him want to melt.

Only then did he realize a bunch of thirty or so kids were standing behind her. Danny was being held by a tall, blonde kid with blue eyes. A girl with pixie-cut brown hair walked up to him, her brown eyes sparkling, "Welcome to the fourth Battalion. Name's Hannah." She smiled at him.

Maybe smirked, "Well Lake, I'm in charge. To clear things up, I'm the leader of Battalion number 4 or the Fourth Battalion. I'm the camp's prophet too and I'm technically a princess. You've already met Danny. I figured he needed a friend, that's why I assigned him to be your mentor. He'll teach you what you need to know. If not and it fails…"

Hannah came up in front of him, smiling again, "I can be your mentor if you'd like."

"Hannah!" Maybe scolded.

"I'm sorry, he just seems so, sad…" Hannah said before going to stand behind her.

Lake blinked, "I am not sad! I'm perfectly happy!"

Maybe frowned, "Lake, look, life here isn't easy. We never get the best quests. The world has forgotten about us. The world doesn't treat the Trojans like they do the Greeks or the Romans. Sure there are their camps, one in New York and one in California. The mist hides them from one another but we know their real. We don't like the Greeks but we don't like the Romans either."

He blinked, "Why not, I thought Aeneas, didn't he escape? I mean he carried on the legacy."

She sighed, "Aeneas formed the Roman Empire. His empire then went on to conquer the Greeks."

"Isn't that good? I mean, they destroyed the original Troy, they got what they deserved."

Maybe shook her head, "No. Helen belonged to us. Aphrodite promised her to us. The Greeks didn't respect her decision. And they destroyed us for it. Greeks are tyrants and Romans are cowards. Aeneas was a coward. But no one will ever know that but us. No one will ever understand that."

The other demi-gods lowered their heads and repeated the words, "Greek tyrants and Roman cowards."

Lake nodded slightly, "I think I understand."

"Don't worry, you will in time," she said, "But till then, it's dinner time." She clasped her hands together. "To the cafeteria!" With that the Battalion filed down the street to the large building. Lake stayed where he was, not quite sure what to do.

He turned around to see the girl, Hannah, who had just tapped on his shoulder. "Are you going to come eat dinner or not?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"You want to go home, don't you Lake? To see your dad?"

Lake blinked, "How did you know it was my dad who was mortal?"

Hannah smiled, "Maybe told us. She was the one who sensed your presence and sent the Ares Twins to find you. She knew it was boy, Austin Texas, mortal dad, immortal mom."

"Anything else?" he asked, curious.

Hannah got a conflicted look on her face, "Well she did mention something about the Great Prophecy."

"That what?"

"The Great Prophecy:

_A half-blood of the eldest gods_

_shall reach sixteen against all odds_

_And see the world in endless sleep_

_The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

_A single choice shall end his days_

_Olympus to persevere or raze_

Lake gulped, "What?"

Hannah fiddled with a sword at her belt, "Well you see it's a prophecy that was issued seventy years ago by the Oracle of Delphi. Since then the Big Three, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon have made a pact to no longer have any demi-gods kids."

"But Danny, isn't he a son of…."

"Poseidon, yes, and there's another kid here, Marcus. Son of Hades. There are a few others but things have gone from worst to bad in that last year."

"Excuse me?" Lake choked out.

"They're supposed to be dead. Last year someone stole Zeus' master bolt from Olympus and a few kids from the Greek camp saved it and brought it back. Things aren't that much better this year either."

"What do you mean?"

Hannah sighed, "I'd better let King Henry do it, he's planning to give us all the lowdown tonight after dinner."

"King Henry?"

Hannah frowned, "My brother."


	5. Nikephoros and Marcus

_~I don't own anything except the OCs and the Camp Illion Idea! Thanks for reading .Thanks for the reviews Im2lazytomakeanaccount! Danny has a lot of story behind him. ;) ~_

_~mythgirl100ad_

Dinner had been hectic. Hannah had started a food fight to "welcome" him to Camp Illion. The Nereids, sea nymphs who worked in the camp, and The Ivory Girls, young woman made from ivory and blessed by Aphrodite to breath, tried to keep order and give food to the demi-gods. They didn't seem very happy with the mess that was being made.

Hannah was jumping about the table, pumping her fists in the air and yelling for more ammunition. Lake was covering his face with his hands, trying to ignore his welcome party. It was embarrassing. It went on like that for many long minutes before it was suddenly stopped. Everyone dropped what they were doing, literately.

The guy strode into the room, followed by Alan, Maybe and a younger kid, around twelve or so. All of them had a different sort of silver crown on their heads, a tiara in Maybe's case. The fourth kid was holding his head low. He had pitch black, shiny hair. It hung in his eyes, possibly obscuring his vision. His skin was pale, like he didn't stay in the sun a lot. He had dark brown eyes that reminded Lake of wet dirt with a bunch of decomposing stuff in it. He had a slightly paranoid look to him.

Hannah jumped off the table, standing next to him, whispering in his ear, "The tall guy is King Henry, son of Hermes, he's our leader. He kind of represents King Priam, who was the king of Troy during the Trojan War. He's also leader of the First Battalion."

"Alan is the leader of the Second Battalion. He stands for Prince Hector. He also has the title of Prince."

"You already know Maybe. She represents Cassandra, except everyone believes her prophecies. Oh, and don't feel bad about falling all over her earlier. She does that to all of the guys at camp, I guess that's one of the perks of having Aphrodite as your mom."

"The little guy, that's Marcus. He came here last year. He's shy. Leader of the Third Battalion, not by choice, and like I said earlier, his dad is Hades. Something happened with his test, and he won't tell anyone," Hannah said before she was cut off.

"Tolvaj!" Alan called out, "No gossiping! Not now." Henry didn't even turn his head towards her. Lake looked at Hannah. He couldn't imagine it. Having your brother, the leader of an entire camp of powerful half-bloods and not even giving your little sister a second glance. He didn't know if he could live with that.

Hannah looked down. "Excuse me Alan! She's in my Battalion! I'll be the one to punish her," Maybe snapped at him.

Alan shot a look at her, and Lake couldn't help but snicker, "They don't like one another, do they?"

Hannah smiled, whispering to him again, "Well it fun teasing the both of them that they might be in love with one another. But they always deny it. It's hilarious."

Lake smirked but soon they were pushed along with the tide of kids moving towards a huge room. It had a large window on the back that made him stop in his steps. It was one of those mosaic windows. It depicted a city, in the dead of night, burning.

"Come on," Hannah said, "King Henry's going to make an announcement." She led him over and they both sat on the floor, along with all the other kids. A few wooden steps lead up to the window and Henry, Marcus, Alan and Maybe sat down on them, fiddling with their weapons. Henry spoke:

"As you all know one of the prizes of Camp Illion is the Twelve Stallions of Erichthonius. The prize of these stallions was Nikephoros. As you know, he disappeared three days ago, shortly before the arrival of our new half-blood." Lake was suddenly aware of everyone's eyes trained on him.

Henry went back to talking, "With the sudden amount of changes are the stirrings on mount Olympus, I feel entitled to send a quest out. Alan has offered to lead it and has chosen a pair of half-bloods to accompany him. Does anyone have anything to say?"

No one said anything for a long moment, an eerie silence setting over the room. Hannah finally got to her feet, "Henry?"

"King Henry," Maybe corrected. But compared to Henry's cold stare, she looked friendly.

"King Henry?" Hannah spat, "Perhaps there is a reason the gods sent to prophecy to find Lake at a time like this. Perhaps they meant for him to go find Nikephoros."

Alan laughed, "Him, he's still unclaimed, if you haven't realized that Hannah. You just want to prove to your brother that you're not as useless as the entire camp thinks."

Henry did nothing, simply folding his hands under his chin. Hannah flinched and quickly sat back down.

Lake stood up, "Look! Maybe you should let me lead this quest!"

Everyone turned their heads towards him again, whispering things to one another.

Henry sighed, "Lake's that's very noble of you but…"

"But what! Alan has picked out two people. I can pick out two people too. What if I picked Danny! Could I lead the quest then! I mean Danny isn't stupid, is he!" he said desperately, hoping someone would support him.

It was quiet for a long moment; no one said anything, not even Alan. It was finally small Prince Marcus who said something, "I approve, let him lead the quest."


	6. Lake's Mom and Hannah's Story

_~I don't own anything! It'll be a while till the next chapter, or not, it depends on the mood I'm in. Please R&R! Thanks! ~_

_~mythgirl100ad_

Lake turned his head towards Marcus. The son of Hades had got to his feet, "I like your spunk and I think Hannah has a point. I say we send Lake, unclaimed, Danny, son of Poseidon, and Hannah, daughter of Hermes, on a quest to find Nikephoros. If anyone says otherwise, speak now."

After a long silence Marcus spoke again, "All those who agree, raise your hand now." Most people raised their hand. Henry and Alan were a few of the last but eventually everyone agreed. Lake gulped; he really hadn't planned his outburst to get him anywhere.

The prince looked to him, "I'd advise you get ready. You have a lot to prepare for."

Lake was at his bunk in the barrack, packing his pack. All three have been given a green backpack to put their things in for the quest. They had been given equal rations of ambrosia and nectar, an extra spare of clothing, some money and some silver coins. He kept looking over his shoulder at Danny.

Who had been glaring at him for the past hour.

Danny had made several slices with his finger across his throat, so Lake was pretty sure if he didn't get killed on this quest; Danny was going to kill him for dragging him along. And the very idea was scary enough.

He tried to focus and look like he was doing something, which wasn't very easy considering he had finished packing over an hour ago. But they still had to wait because of Hannah, who was still packing all she could into that pack of hers.

Several of the other kids cast looks at him, wondering how some unclaimed kid got picked to lead a quest. He looked down at the dagger. Why now, why had his mom chosen to send him to Camp Illion now. There were certainly a lot of other kids more fit to do this then he was. The life of an immortal, magical stallion was weighing heavily on his shoulders, and it hurt.

Lake slung that pack over his shoulder, looking over at Danny, "Now what?"

Danny bit his lip, glaring at him, "We wait for little miss thief to get done with her packing."

"Don't call her that," Lake said, determined to defend the only friend he had a camp so far, if you'd call your insane, food-fight throwing/welcome party throwing daughter of Hermes.

"Well that's what she is," Danny stated, "And she'll never change. You have a good choice in friends Daniels," he spat, walking out of the room.

Lake sighed; walking over to the side of the room to knock on the door that led to the girl's half of the barracks. No answer. After a few more knocks Hannah opened the door. "Can we talk," he asked.

Hannah blinked, "Sure, what 'bout?"

Lake glanced down at the dagger, "My mom."

She winced, "As in what goddess she is or why she chooses now?"

"I guess both."

Hannah nodded, "Well, there are a lot of goddesses. She might be Athena, Aphrodite, Hecate, Demeter, maybe Nemesis. There's Isis too."

"Who do you think is mine?"

She looked him over, "Well, do you have any talents, anything special about your dad that may had that attracted a goddess."

"He was obsessed with mutating plants, does that count?"

Hannah shrugged, "I don't know, Athena maybe, but you don't have the look."

Lake blinked, "Look?"

"Athena's kids, they usually have gray eyes, we've never seen one that doesn't have them. There's some weird thing about all the Greek Athena kids all having blonde hair, but with Alan, you can see that's not always true."

"So?"

"Demeter, that's who I'd think, but you won't know for certain till she claims you," she paused, "Don't get impatient. She'll claim you when the time is right. She's not ignoring you Lake; she's just making sure you're safe."

Lake nodded, his curiosity finally curbing over, "Hannah, how did you come to Camp Illion?"

Hannah paused, looking at him for a long moment, "How old are you Lake?"

"Thirteen? Why?"

"I'm thirteen too, anyways. Hah… my mom was the head of a post office in Seattle, she was really good. She helped everyone get their mail and whatnot. And soon she caught Hermes' eye. Soon Henry was born and Hermes left. My mother moved on and married another man. But something happened…" Hannah stopped, looking down at the ground.

"What?"

"Henry told me that man started hitting our mothers and one day he just vanished. Hermes came back and told my mother something. Soon as that he left again, and then I was born. We lived a good life for eight years. Henry was fifteen, in high school, head of the baseball team, class president, dating a cheerleader, all that. He had it perfect."

"Anyways, one day in school, a teacher's aide came to me. Soon enough they told me I was a half-blood, Henry too. Henry and I received our tests and both passed. Henry wanted to go, he wanted to be the best soldier for the gods he could be. I didn't want to leave. I was eight and I wanted to stay with my mom."

"Henry told us that the monsters would find us and hurt mom if we didn't leave. I remember leaving; he slung me over his shoulder in an attempt to keep me from running back to her. I remember seeing her crying, standing on the steps. And when we got here, he forgot about me. Dropped me off in Battalion 4 and I haven't had a standing conversation with him since."

Lake stared at her, "Why didn't you ever go home, I mean if he ignored you then you could go home and see your mom."

Hannah sighed. "Lake, it doesn't work that way, you have to be given permission by your Battalion leader to go home, to leave camp."

"But Henry is leader of battalion one."

"I know that but Henry is king, he wants me here for some reason. Maybe has tried to break me out before. She's like a sister to me. She becomes a sister to all of us soon after coming here."

Lake nodded, "Hannah, when we're on this quest, couldn't you see your mom then."

She smirked, making her look like she was going to hit him or something, "You think I haven't thought of that before Genius? That's why I've been trying to get a quest for the past five years."


	7. Day and Night, Danny and Maybe

_~Sorry about the wait for the chapter, things have been busy. I don't own anything from the original books. Just my characters~_

_mythgirl100ad_

It took a few minutes for Hannah and Lake to get to Maybe's quarters. Her door had been painted hot pint with her name bedazzled on the front. "She sure is a daughter of Aphrodite," Hannah muttered, knocking on the door. A few moments later Maybe opened the door. Danny was already in the room, sitting on a couch. He was still wearing his helmet. Lake then realized he'd never seen his face, only the dude's eyes and bits of his hair.

Maybe motioned them both to the couch. They sat down, as far away from Danny as possible, with Hannah ending up sitting on the arm. The prophet sat on a recliner across from them. She intertwined her fingers, "Well, first quest in over two years."

"We all know that," Danny snorted. He glanced at Lake, "Correction, all but newbie here," he growled.

"Danny, manners," Maybe snapped. She took a scrap of paper out of her pocket. It was folded neatly.

"Is that the prophecy?" Hannah asked.

Maybe nodded, unfolding it, "You all ready?"

"Yes!" Hannah said, nearly falling off the couch.

Danny shrugged, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Lake gulped, nodding glumly.

Maybe unfolded the piece of paper, reading it slowly:

_Council with Day and Night_

_The child of Poseidon will face their worst fright_

_An old death will renew_

_And the steed will be freed with goddess' brew_

Hannah and Lake simultaneously looked at Danny. _The child of Poseidon will face their worst fright. _What could small, bad Danny be afraid of? Danny snorted.

"It must mean some other kid of Poseidon; doesn't the Greek camp have one?"

Maybe's face turned serious, "We truly never know what the prophecy means until it has fully played out. It may mean a number of things, some we may truly never know, but yes. The Greek camp does have a child of Poseidon."

Danny nodded, making a growling sound.

Hannah stuck her tongue out at him, "So is there any advice you can give us on the quest?"

Maybe closed her eyes, thinking for a second, "Well, Day and Night. That makes me think of Hermia and Nyx. "

Lake blinked, "Who?"

Danny glared at him through his helmet, "Hermia, the goddess of day, and Nyx, the goddess of Night. "

Hannah blinked, "So we're supposed to go talk to them?"

"That'd be my guess," Maybe said. She paused, thinking for a moment.

Danny leaned forward, his armor clinking together. "What?"

"They switch, coming in or out of Tatarus, depending on sunrise or sunset. If you can catch them at either of those times, then you'll be able to talk to them at the same time."

"Any ideas on how to get there?" Lake asked.

"The entrance to the underworld is in California, I'd suggest going there."

"Any idea on how we're going to get there?"

Maybe smirked, smiling, "Well I'm sure Danny has an idea." Hannah and Lake's eyes darted to the foul-tempered son of Poseidon.

Danny glared at the both of them and looked at Maybe, "I am not letting them ride my sea monster," he growled.


End file.
